For example, referring to a vehicle shown in FIG. 1, weather strips are attached to front and rear doors 1 at the sash 2 above the belt line BL for providing sealing between the door and the body. The weather strip comprises a molded part attached to a door panel at the belt line end positions a and an extruded part constituting the rest. The extruded part comprises a base that is attached to a retainer secured to the sash and a hollow sealing portion that is integrally molded with the base and makes elastic contact with a door opening edge of the body when the door is closed. The molded part comprises, as shown in FIG. 2, a base 3 that is joined to the base of the extruded part and a hollow sealing portion 4 that is integrally molded with the base and joined to the hollow sealing portion of the extruded part.
The molded part described above is typically attached to a door panel at the end of outside molding attached to the belt line. Conventionally, a clip protruding from a resin insert integrally molded with the base is fitted in a fit-in hole formed in inner and outer door panels constituting a door panel at their overlapped portion. In a known method, as shown in FIG. 2, an eyelet-shaped resin insert 5 integrally molded with the base 3 is fitted in a mounting member 11 secured in an outside molding 9 through a fit-in hole 8 formed in inner and outer door panels 6 and 7 at the overlapped portion. Then, a locking screw 12 is screwed in the mounting member 11 through the base 3 and the insert. In the figure, the number 13 indicates a door opening edge of the body.
In another known structure for attaching the molded part, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, engaging grooves 20 are formed along the circumference of an annular engaging member 17 integrally molded with a resin plate 16 provided to a base 15 of the molded part and an engaging piece 14 clamping the base 15 together with the plate 16 is provided. Protrusions (not shown) that are engaged with and locked in the engaging grooves 20 are formed on a boss 19 integrally molded with a garnish 18 attached to a sash 22 at positions corresponding to the engaging grooves 20. The plate 16 is pressed on the base 15 of the molded part and the protrusions on the boss 19 of the garnish 18 are engaged with the engaging grooves 20 so that the boss 19 is fitted in the engaging member 17. Then, a locking screw 21 is inserted in the plate 16 from the side opposite to the garnish 18 and screwed in and secured to the garnish 18 (the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-255031).
Referring to the structure for attaching the molded part as shown in FIG. 2, the base 3 of the molded part is secured by the locking screw 12, providing highly secure attachment and the molded part does not easily come off the door panel compared to the clip attachment. On the other hand, when the locking screw 12 is screwed in and tightened, the base 3 tends to rotate together with it, becoming twisted due to frictional drag caused by the locking screw head 12a, impairing the appearance of the attached molded part. In this respect, in the attachment structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the protrusions on the boss 19 are engaged with the engaging grooves 20 so that the garnish 18 does not allow the plate 16 to rotate. Therefore, the plate 16 does not rotate together with the locking screw 21 as it is screwed in and the molded part is not twisted.
The present invention provides a structure for attaching the molded part of a weather strip that facilitates the attachment of the molded part to a door, a trunk lid, or a vehicle body using a locking screw without impairing the appearance of the molded part.